Copley Financial Group Inc. Makes New $871,000 Investment in Astrazeneca Plc $AZN

Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Astrazeneca Plc (NYSE:AZN) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 4,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $871,000. Astrazeneca accounts for about 0.5% of Copley Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AZN. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Astrazeneca by 552.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,547,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $973,603,000 after acquiring an additional 4,697,895 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 344.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,478,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,841,000 after buying an additional 2,695,793 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 65.3% during the 4th quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 6,154,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,080,160,000 after buying an additional 2,431,890 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 6,129,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,232,000 after buying an additional 1,807,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in shares of Astrazeneca by 11,190.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,806,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,107,000 after buying an additional 1,790,874 shares in the last quarter. 20.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AZN shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Barclays reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Astrazeneca in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Astrazeneca from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.33.

Astrazeneca Stock Performance

Shares of Astrazeneca stock opened at $178.79 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $188.26 and a 200 day moving average of $186.16. Astrazeneca Plc has a 12 month low of $137.23 and a 12 month high of $212.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $277.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Astrazeneca (NYSE:AZN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.06. Astrazeneca had a return on equity of 30.86% and a net margin of 17.19%.The company had revenue of $15.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.93 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Astrazeneca Plc will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

About Astrazeneca

AstraZeneca plc is a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, England. Formed through the 1999 merger of Sweden’s Astra AB and the UK’s Zeneca Group, the company researches, develops, manufactures and commercializes prescription medicines across a range of therapeutic areas. AstraZeneca positions itself as R&D-driven, investing in discovery science, clinical development and regulatory processes to bring new therapies to market.

The company’s commercial portfolio and late-stage pipeline emphasize oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic (CVRM) diseases, and respiratory and immunology.